:bored:While browsing for something else, I've just come across listings for sale of (second hand) copies of the NAMHO 2014 Conference Proceedings.

Amazon £70.98 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mining-Technology-Innovation-Extractive-Proceedings/dp/0956137733)

AbeBooks £71.98 (https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780956137739/Mining-Technology-Technical-Innovation-Extractive-0956137733/plp)

Considering that this publication is still on sale from Welsh Mines Society (via me) at £12.50 (+ 2.50 p&p), I'm rather puzzled about the above listings. Can anyone tell me what's going on here?

Dave

One of the Amazon sellers has a secondhand copy for sale at £169.15 :o
Perhaps the WMS ought to consider online sales?

Flipping 'eck!

WMS definitely ought to consider getting their back library onto Amazon!

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I've never been sure why prices go quite so high on Amazon when books are (mostly) out of print - surely no one is really going to pay anything like that much?! 😮

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WMS definitely ought to consider getting their back library onto Amazon!

I've just had a look at selling via Amazon (and AbeBooks) and in both cases there's a monthly charge involved. For a low cost and slowly moving series like Welsh Mines and Mining I think the subscription charges would very quickly consume any profits WMS might make from sales.

Of course, if any enterprising businessperson would like to buy copies at trade terms for resale on Amazon or elsewhere I would be happy to oblige. :)

Dave

Having spent a lot of time on second hand book sites, my observation is that over-priced items seem to arise from a limited number of poorly-informed book sellers making wild guesses - although I suspect a few might be due to misplaced decimal points. The sensibly priced copies sell as usual and the over-priced copies remain listed. This has the effect that if a title is somewhat seldom offered for sale, only the over priced copies are online so those booksellers that use websites as their pricing guide give their stock similar high prices. Over time, a number of copies with broadly similar prices builds up, reinforcing the false impression that these high prices are at a 'correct' level.

Fortunately there are many well-informed booksellers that know their fields and can accurately price stock.

Good booksellers regularly review stock that isn't moving and mark it down - this doesn't seem to happen much with radically over-priced items.

The big second hand book selling websites are a curious mix of radically different traders, very broadly:

(1) Established high street independent second hand book sellers. A declining sector.

(2) People selling from home - these vary hugely from poorly informed to very good. Many have quite modest stock; quite a lot seem to have an indifferent grasp of the trade. Some of these don't use the established condition grading terms at all accurately. Some are very well informed about the specialist fields they deal in. A very mixed bunch. You soon identify the good ones. A growing sector.

(3) Warehouses that buy and sell large quantities (some supply the trade by the pallet-load) and also list large numbers of books to sell directly and singly to the public. Their pricing can be a bit random. Increasingly they supply sellers in groups (1) and (2) with cubic metre lots by subject area, price and condition - the days of second hand booksellers obtaining their stock through purchases from people walking into their shops with carrier bags and grocery boxes have greatly declined. Not sure how much this sector is still growing - it may have levelled out.

Good lord!

I still have my copy, although it has a large tea-stain on the corner of all the pages due to a nocturnal beverage incident so may only be worth £50 :confused:

If you wanted a new one to keep 'for best' I could supply a replacement copy. You could then keep the soiled copy for your nocturnal activities. :)

Dave

A kind offer but since it's still perfectly readable I'll struggle on with one copy, Mrs T already queries the necessity for so much printed matter about the place, duplicating things may be seen as a step too far.

Besides no document is truly authentic without a few tea rings. A principle I stick to at home and at work.

Interesting to see the other books by the same author (editor), including:

- "Popular Musical Theatre in London and Berlin: 1890 to 1939"

- "Turbocharging Your Parts and Service Department"

- "Essentials of Food Safety and Sanitation"

- "Understanding natural childbirth: A book for the expectant mother"

- "Sunday School Attendance Crusade Workbook"

And last, but certainly not least, Dave's seminal work about a pair of counterfeit shoes bought in a backstreet shop in Benidorm in 1993:

- "Spanish Trainers Manual"

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :angel:

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WMS definitely ought to consider getting their back library onto Amazon!

I've just had a look at selling via Amazon (and AbeBooks) and in both cases there's a monthly charge involved. For a low cost and slowly moving series like Welsh Mines and Mining I think the subscription charges would very quickly consume any profits WMS might make from sales.

There shouldn't be any monthly charges for listing product already in their catalogue, but the products you're selling might not be in their catalogue (although clearly this one is, so you should be able to list it for free)

Some of the prices seem bonkers, but Amazon take a huge cut, I sold a book for £100 once and they gouged me for about 25%

Also prices probably get over-inflated by auto-pricing software (the £1 price difference between Amazon and Abebooks won't be a co-incidence)